Conor McGregor is in no hurry to face the 24-0 Khabib Nurmagomedov. The current featherweight and lightweight champion made that clear at the UFC 205 post-fight presser early Sunday morning. Despite an impressive and dominant victory over Michael Johnson, Conor doesn’t feel the Russian’s credentials are deserving of a title shot.
In particular, Conor feels that Nurmagomedov has not fought an active enough schedule to deserve a title shot.
“I need to see activity. I need to see consistency. I need to see me. If you want me to come and change your life, if you want me to come pick you, you better have some damn reasons for me to do that.” Conor stated at the UFC 205 post-fight press conference.
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib was’t able to fight between April 19th 2014 and April 16th 2016 due to injuries. In his first fight back this spring he defeated UFC newcomer Darrell Horcher, and this weekend he defeated the #6 ranked Michael Johnson in convincing fashion.
Interestingly, Khabib called out Conor in his post-fight interview, but made no mention of Alvarez. Either Khabib was confident that Conor would defeat Eddie later that night, or is more interested in a fight with Conor than a championship fight against anyone else.
“He ain’t fight too frequent for my liking. For me to commit to something like that, I need solid proof that people are going to show up. And he’s a consistent pull-out merchant.” Conor also stated at the press conference.
Now more than ever Conor is calling his own shots, meaning don’t expect a McGregor vs Nurmagomedov fight anytime soon. If Conor is going to defend the lightweight belt in his next fight however, there are two other potential challengers for him.
Tony Ferguson
El Cucoy is on a 9-fight win streak, yet seems content to humbly exist in the shadows. Ferguson recently picked apart former champion Raphael Dos Anjos in their Mexico City clash two weeks ago. While the fight was close, it was a solid win for Ferguson and could arguably earn him the next title shot.
In his post-fight interview, Ferguson neglected to call out the champion, opting instead to say he will defeat whoever is placed in front of him. Ferguson’s refusal to play into the trash-talk game would be a change of pace from Conor’s more recent opponents. It could actually be quite interesting to see how Conor responds to Ferguson’s toned down attitude.
Nate Diaz
A wildcard in this division, Nate Diaz could be the next fighter to challenge for the lightweight championship. If you take away Nate’s victory over Conor at 196, giving him a title opportunity is a tough sell. Heading into his two fight series with Conor, Diaz had lost 3 out of his last 5. He is the last guy to defeat the champion however, and often that is grounds for a title opportunity.
Adding a title belt to a trilogy bout between Conor and Nate sounds like an interesting way for the UFC to break even more PPV records.
pussy
conner is ?? How McClown Gets To RUN The Show Is Beyond me?! He’s Good>But So Are ALOT Of People!! He’s A SPOILED Kid!! “TRUTH”!!
Hes dodging a guy he knows can knock him out as usual.
“Ain’t fighting frequently enough” says the guy who held an entire weight class hostage for a year, and is now looking to add another. Still waiting for a title match, but we’ll just get more interim belts while the official title holders chase money.
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